President Joe Biden delivered a short address from the White House on Sunday, claiming credit for the toppling of the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who was ousted by rebels after a long and brutal reign lasting decades.
Biden claimed that a combination of U.S. policies — isolating Assad; tying Russia down in Ukraine; and allowing Israel freedom of action against Iran and its Hezbollah proxy — weakened the regime and left it without defenders.
Biden said:
Over the past four years, my administration pursued a clear, principled policy towards Syria. First, we made clear from the start that sanctions on Assad would remain in place unless he engaged seriously in a political process to end the civil war, as outlined in the U.N. security council resolution that passed in 2015. But Assad refused. So we carried out a comprehensive sanctions program against him and all those responsible for atrocities against the Syrian people. Second, we maintained our military presence in Syria, our counter ISIS, to counter the support of local partners as well on the ground, their partners, never ceding an inch of territory, taking out leaders of ISIS, ensuring that ISIS can never establish a safe haven there again. Third, we supported Israel’s freedom of action against Iranian networks in Syria and against actors aligned with Iran, transporting lethal aid to Lebanon — and, when necessary, ordered the use of military force against Iranian networks to protect U.S. forces. Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East. Through this combination of support from our partners sanctions, diplomacy, and targeted military force when necessary, we now see new opportunities opening up for the people of Syria and for the entire region.
Biden left out the fact that President Barack Obama had sought to cultivate relations with the Assad regime, and ignored Assad’s use of chemical weapons despite drawing a “red line” in 2012. Both Obama and Biden also sought specifically to establish a new balance of power in the Middle East that favored a stronger Iran, despite its role in Syria. Furthermore, Biden did not give Israel freedom of action against Iran, but instead insisted on Israeli restraint.
Biden spoke hopefully — and perhaps wishfully — about beginning a process of drafting a Syrian constitution, with the input of various different groups within the country, coupled with international aid to rebuild the war-torn nation.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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